The ASTA Leadership Summit will be held June 15-19, 2024 in Nashville, TN. (Chris Lusvardi photo)
Nashville, TN (June 6, 2024) - The ASTA Leadership Summit, taking place June 15-19, offers several chances for participants to connect and network, all in the spirit of the “Music City” in Nashville, TN.
The event, which now boasts the highest number of professional delegates in the event’s history, kicks off Saturday, June 15 with an optional private group tour of historic RCA Studio B, known as the birthplace for the “Nashville Sound,” where artists from Elvis Presley to Dolly Parton and Chet Atkins cut some of their most famous tracks.
On Sunday, June 16 family guests will head to the Hermitage Hotel for a high tea inspired by Reese Witherspoon’s recent cookbook, Whiskey in a Tea Cup, and Sunday night’s Welcome Reception takes over the Omni Nashville’s own honkytonk, called “Barlines,” where ASTA members and friends can enjoy some country cooking while showing off their karaoke skills.
Students and industry representatives will connect on Monday, June 17 at a Career Fair and student poster presentation reception, and Monday evening’s Awards Reception will honor major leaders in the seed industry who paved the way for those attending the Summit seeking to cultivate their own leadership skills.
The final closing reception on Tuesday, June 18 kicks off the countdown to Leadership Summit 2025 in Washington D.C. with an All-American theme that illuminates how seed industry leaders can best advocate for the industry on Capitol Hill.
Throughout the event, the educational sessions incorporate facilitated networking, so that those who are new to ASTA have an easy path to get to know each other. All in all, the Leadership Summit is an excellent way to keep career skills current while networking with the top leaders across all sectors of the seed industry.
Registration remains open, up to and including the conference dates. Register today.
ASTA Leadership Summit Features Panel "Farmer of The Future"
Nashville, TN (May 23, 2024) - Among the many important topics being discussed at ASTA’s upcoming Leadership Summit in Nashville, TN, one featured session entitled “Ground Truthing: Leading Through Change” will provide incredible perspectives for seed companies.
Mark Purdy from Aimpoint Research kicks off the session with insights from the “Farmer of the Future 2.0” research platform, which combines input from a variety of agricultural experts to offer informed predictions that enable a deeper understanding of U.S. farmers and ranchers and the trends in their decision making process.
Following his remarks, a farmer panel discussion features Bill Peterson of Peterson Farms, a family wheat farmer in Kentucky who also served as director of Management Operations for the University of Kentucky for 20 years, and George McDonald, president of Catesa Farms, LLC, a grower of corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum, strawberries, and watermelons in six different counties in middle Tennessee.
The panel will discuss new innovations for farmers and how they make decisions based on the “ground truths” that they find when growing their crops.
The ASTA Leadership Summit is the only industry event that brings together leaders and rising stars from all sectors of the seed business to learn and collaborate on the crucial issues facing the modern seed industry.
Register today to get your seat at the table.
Registration Deadline For ASTA Leadership Summit Early Bird Rates is Approaching
Nashville, TN (May 10, 2024) - It’s May – what have you done this year to develop your staff’s career skills?
Time is running out to let ASTA take care of this for you by sending your team to the ASTA Leadership Summit, June 15-19 in Nashville.
Early registration rates expire after May 14 for the Summit, so take advantage of the special pricing before it expires. The Summit offers seed industry professionals of ALL career levels the chance to learn and collaborate, across generations, on building the future of the seed industry with career and leadership skills they need to cultivate now.
The Summit gives you a chance to:
- Learn the latest industry information about policy developments and industry trends,
- Network with top seed industry executives and peers,
- Learn about team optimization,
- Gain skills and techniques to address challenges within a seed company related to government relations, communications, technology advancements, and business markets,
- Gain new perspectives by collaborating with “rising stars” in the seed industry on key issues,
- Meet students and potential new hires,
- Mentor the next generation of the seed industry, and
- Create an action plan for immediate key takeaways that apply to your career and your company’s day to day business.
ASTA sessions will also feature the latest updates on federal and state policy, Farm Bill reauthorization, phytosanitary concerns, the new ASTA Student Committee, and an overview of all ASTA committees and how to get more involved.
ASTA Leadership Summit: A Crucial Investment For Mid- to Senior-Level Seed Professionals
Nashville, TN (April 11, 2024) - The ASTA Leadership Summit, held this June in Nashville, provides a crucial opportunity for mid- to senior-level seed company leadership. From keeping current on the latest seed policy issues, to finding your next great hire, the Summit offers a set of learning objectives specifically for experienced seed professionals that have been built into the event’s design.
The Summit provides an environment where experienced seed executives can talk thoughtfully with their peers, as well as some of the newer generation of rising stars, the Leadership Summit is the only leadership development event that’s focused specifically on the seed industry.
Testimonials from past participants demonstrate how cultivating your leadership skills, as well as rising stars within your company, is one of the most important tasks a leader must fulfill.
“Think of it as a company retreat,” says ASTA Chair Dave Armstrong, urging ASTA members to invest in their team and their company’s future now, as our industry continues to face overwhelming challenges and rapid changes.
Keynote Presentation at ASTA's Leadership Summit in Nashville Features Former LinkedIn, Google Exec Fred Kofman
Nashville, TN (March 28, 2024) - The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Leadership Summit June 15-19 in Nashville, TN will feature a keynote presentation like no other when Fred Kofman of the Conscious Business Center shines a spotlight on leadership with an eye-opening perspective.
Using tested theories that have served as a guidepost for some of the country's top businesses, Kofman uses a mathematics-based methodology to demonstrate how to manage your company's subsystems in order to optimize your overall success.
Kofman's keynote serves as the flagship session at this year's Leadership Summit, followed by interactive audience exercises that will let you put his lessons into practice using crowd-sourced insights from fellow attendees. In the afternoon, Kofman returns to provide a more in-depth workshop, providing answers to the questions that groups developed in the morning.
Kofman is an executive coach and advisor on leadership and culture. He is founder and president of the Conscious Business Center. Fred founded his global consulting company, Axialent, which has delivered leadership programs to more than 15,000 executives around the world. In 2018, Fred accepted a position as Vice President at Google, where he advised the CEO on leadership and culture. Previously, he was Vice President of executive development at LinkedIn. Fred is the author of the trilogy Metamanagement (2001), Conscious Business (2006) and The Meaning Revolution (2018). He has a PhD. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
ASTA Leadership Summit Benefits Seed Industry Pros at All Levels in Their Career
Nashville, TN (March 28, 2024) - While ASTA's upcoming Leadership Summit in Nashville offers a wealth of educational opportunities for early-career professionals, the seed industry's mid-career and senior executives will also find extensive value in the programming.
In a fast-changing business and political climate, it's important to understand not only how to lead within your company, but also how to identify and engage with different demographics that can affect your business.
Whether you are just beginning or have been in the industry for decades, practicing these skills is imperative to the future of your company.
At ASTA's Leadership Summit, the importance of this skillset is featured during the "REACHing Those That Matter" session, exploring different methods of identifying critical issues, and engaging with customers, partners, and policymakers. The Summit agenda overall includes a variety of opportunities to hear about how ASTA is engaging with policymakers on the most crucial seed business issues of our time.
In addition to these opportunities to keep yourself and your company up to date on the latest news, the Summit allows senior executives to both learn from and pave the way for the next generation of the seed industry - a crucial part of the role today's leaders have and must embrace.
Register today for the ASTA Leadership Summit in Nashville.
ASTA Leadership Summit Offers Key Industry Learning For Early-Career Professionals and Student Participants
Nashville, TN (March 14, 2024) - As part of the different career tracks developed for the ASTA Leadership Summit, held June 15-19 in Nashville, TN, one of the targeted learning objectives is specifically designed to serve the leadership development needs of early-career professionals and agriculture students.
“Think of it as a company retreat,” says ASTA Chair Dave Armstrong, highlighting how this event is the only leadership development program specifically designed for the seed industry.
ASTA encourages more seasoned industry professionals to bring those colleagues just starting their careers to collaborate, through interactive exercises, on the most crucial aspects of the seed business and show them how to develop leadership skills in each area.
The Early-Career section of the registration website offers an overview of what can be gained for this specific type of employee, and even provides a template letter to ask permission to go.
The Student Program delivers a two-day dedicated track of student-focused sessions, including the launch of the new ASTA Student Committee, a student poster presentation showcase, and a career fair.
With Nashville as the backdrop, the event also provides plenty of opportunities to network while having fun.
ASTA's 2024 Student Connections Application Now Open
Nashville, TN (February 28, 2024) - The American Seed Trade Association's (ASTA) LEAD Committee and the Seed Science Foundation (SSF) are proud to announce that applications are now being accepted for this year’s Student Connections Program in conjunction with ASTA’s Leadership Summit.
Are you, or do you know, a student interested in the seed industry? The program provides students the ability to network, engage, and promote the seed industry at ASTA’s annual Leadership Summit June 15-19 in Nashville, TN.
Student Connections is offered through ASTA’s LEAD Committee and SSF to offer students an opportunity to network with industry professionals who represent diverse seed backgrounds including seed breeders, sales, marketing, agronomy and senior leadership of seed companies from the United States, Mexico, Canada, and beyond.
Learn more and apply here.
Elevate Your Brand at ASTA's Leadership Summit in Nashville
Nashville, TN (February 28, 2024) - Opportunities abound at ASTA’s upcoming Leadership Summit, June 15-19 in Nashville, to showcase your brand to some of the most senior leaders in the seed industry.
An expanded sponsorship menu offers a variety of promotions ranging in price, starting at $500, including the chance to serve as host to some of the most prominent events. There are a limited number of exhibit spaces available for company promotional displays, and include one free registration for the event.
Additionally, complimentary company recruiting tables can be secured for the Career Fair, held during the student poster networking event on June 17.
Register your team today to attend this unique and collaborative event – the only leadership development training program specific to the seed industry.
ASTA Leadership Summit Sessions Announced
Nashville, TN (February 15, 2024) - The session schedule for the American Seed Trade Association's (ASTA) upcoming Leadership Summit, June 15-19 in Nashville, TN, has been posted on the event site, revealing a wealth of opportunities for collaborative and facilitated learning between all career levels within the seed industry.
Focusing on a theme of GROW (Goal, Reach, Open and Work), ASTA’s Leadership Summit offers something different from the usual agricultural leadership development program, in that it focuses specifically on the seed industry.
“This event is not just for early career level folks, but for all career levels to come together and learn from each other, with a variety of interactive elements focusing on crucial business topics, plus plenty of social networking time in Nashville,” says Jennifer Crouse, ASTA’s Senior Director of Meetings and Services.
The agenda begins with an interactive examination about what is different about leadership in the seed industry, followed by a series of sessions on setting leadership priorities, growing a diverse company community, and leadership first within your company (including seed business models) and then, within the context of outside market and government influences.
Fred Kofman, a former VP at both LinkedIn and Google, will kick off the series with a keynote on team optimization, followed by a “GROWth Chamber” of round table discussions amongst the audience to examine and activate the lessons from the presentation.
The session series concludes with a farmer panel on “Ground Truthing” new technologies and factors impacting the grower. A final “Leadership Acceleration” exercise will bring all the session content together into each attendee’s personal action plan.
We invite you to bring multiple individuals from your organization and seize the opportunity to utilize the Leadership Summit as a group professional development session. Those organizations with 4 or more registered employees are eligible for a group discount on registration fees. Register today.